Homemade Vegan “Kit Kat” Bars

October 19, 2012Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on October 19, 2012

I must have been really excited to share this post with you yesterday because while I was in the early stages of writing the post, I decided to hit publish instead of save draft. It was really no big deal and I quickly marked the post as private and it disappeared from my blog. Whew. Well, 10 minutes later, I saw the unfinished post pop up in Google Reader! Cue mini freak out. My apologies if you saw a post pop up without an actual recipe. What a tease! Not knowing what to do, I tried to overwrite the post with “ummmm ahhhh sorry, I will be back tomorrow with the post!” message, so you may have witnessed that hilarity instead.

Moral of the story: Do NOT trust me with a computer when I’m on cold meds…ever.

Moving on.

I don’t have much patience when it comes to many things – organization of any kind, taxes, traffic, slow computers, waiting for food to cool…and apparently, writing blog posts. Finicky desserts are high on the list too. Trust me, I have no idea how I ever made these cookies a few years ago. Who was that girl? Luckily, I’m high in persistence and determination (read: stubborn as heck), which is why I stuck with these Kit Kat knock-offs despite my dwindling attention span. After making a third trial this morning, I finally decided on a recipe to share with you.

And I never want to see another Kit Kat bar again.

That is, until the next chocolate craving hits. If you don’t mind spreading several layers of melted chocolate onto thin, easy-to-break wafers and freezing it all several times, then this dessert is for you. If you tend to get distracted by shiny objects like I do, consider yourself warned.

Orange tin-foil candy wrappers are just so pretty…

Now, it’s been years since I’ve had a Kit Kat bar, but from what I remember there are 2 layers – wafers and chocolate. Whoop-dee-doo. I wanted to spruce things up a little so I made homemade coconut whipped cream blended with cocoa powder and maple syrup. Why not?

And of course, melted chocolate. I also added a thick peanut butter layer because it obviously goes amazing with chocolate. I found the tort wafers at Bulk Barn (about the size of a sheet of paper – 5 per package). If anyone else knows where to purchase tort wafers, please leave a comment below!

Speaking of patience, here are step-by-step photos with captions for all the visual learners out there. If you click on the first picture you can click through the entire (enlarged) slideshow all at once. The full recipe is linked at the bottom of the post.

The leftover chocolate whipped cream made the perfect dipping cream for the kit kat bars!

Did I mention this is not a health food?

Note to self: When you leave a huge plastic spider in the kitchen sink, you WILL scream at the sight of it several times throughout the day.

In the end, I’m quite happy with how these turned out. Due to the fussy nature of the bars, I’d probably rather make my Homemade Rolo recipe because 1) it’s much faster, 2) these bars are messy to make, and 3) I like the taste of the date caramel better.

Just my two cents. :) Maybe some of you crafty bakers can make a hybrid of the two?

I’m hoping to get rid of this awful cold as soon as possible. I’m drinking green things and oodles of tea, eating homemade soup, and trying to keep Sketchie from eating a bag of fresh rolls that are for a photoshoot later today (don’t ask…).

Angela these are about the most genius creation I’ve seen in ages. WOW!!!

The layers, the chocolate, the peanut butter, the chocolate whipped cream. And yes it looks like it would make the perfect dipping cream. I want a big bowl of it! And a big pile of Kit Kats. I love them (and Rolo’s, too from your last post!)

Amazing. I love this post! I am sure I would quickly get distracted by a million things if I tried these :) We’ve all hit that ‘publish’ button by accident I think — always hilarious to see where are minds actually are instead being present!! Too funny, great post Angela and HUGE points for patience and creativity!

ya these look too fussy for me. I’m like you too…I don’t like detail or lots of prep. I really don’t. I probably would say “nah..i don’t need a kit kat that bad” haha but it does look amazing and bravo for staying with it.

I really dislike those panicky moments when you hit the wrong button while blogging. I have accidentally erased posts I have worked on for hours and could not get them back using auto-recover. In any event, the “Kit-Kats” look delectable and I can’t wait to try them!

Found this post on the NuffnangX app and would have never thought to make a homemade version of the kit kat bar. They do look a little too much work for something that would be gobbled up in no time.. but boy, do they look delicious! :D

I did see the other post and was confused. Then clicked over and the fact you deleted it made me realize it was a mistake. No problem! These look really great. I am wondering if anyone knows where to get gluten-free wafers like this. I have seen wafer cookies with filling already that are GF, so maybe just coating those with chocolate and more peanut butter would be a close approximation.

I saw the oopsiedaisie post this morning and have been very {im}patiently waiting for this recipe since you started posting teaser pics on Instagram!! Yeah, I’ve maybe been an Oh She Glows creeper this morning :-) These Kit Kats look great!!

I love Kit-Kats, but it’s also been years since I’ve had one. Maybe one day when I’m feeling extra crafty I’ll give these a try. Love the idea of using the coconut whipping. Last weekend, I used your instructions for the whipped coconut to use the top of pie and it worked perfectly. Everyone I served it to (kids included) loved it! I don’t think the kids even knew the difference.

These look amazing. If you don’t want them all, I could surely take some off your hands for you. :) I don’t even have enough patience to bake so I know for sure I wouldn’t have the patience to make these! I will have to try the whipped cream though!

These look sooooo good
I’m really wishing I wasn’t on a low-carb diet, I want to make these so badly!
Vegan desserts and candies are my downfall hehe:D
Thanks for posting these in time to make them for Halloween parties by the way :-D

I’ve published a few blog posts prematurely myself! It happens to the best of us. ;)

I can see where these bars are a bit finicky to make, but you’re kind of my idol for having even attempted it. There are some things I look at and never even consider making at home, and kit kat bars were definitely one of them. How are kit kat bars made? I dunno, magic? :P

Yours sound so much better than ‘real’ kit kats, anyway. Love the peanut butter in the middle!

Oh the premature publish… I’ve done it twice and have proceeded to totally freak out both times!! These were worth the wait though… you’ve done an awesome job! I can imagine it was pretty messy, but at least the taste testing would have been fun! :)

This seems like a good meditation recipe when you want to focus on an elaborate project and just ignore everything else and lick chocolate off of everything! Always a good thing to have the option of doing! Thanks for the effort!!

I am so so so excited for these and the rolos! On another note: a friend of mine once put a sticker of a spider on their downstairs bathroom toilet seat for halloween, but ended up leaving it there all year. I still jump a little bit every time I go use that bathroom! Even if it’s multiple times throughout one night, I still jump lol

I make that same chocolate coconut whipping cream as a dipping sauce for fruit! Posted it a couple weeks back and it is truly decadent right?! I used dark cocoa and it’s truly amazing and soooo much better than traditional whipping cream. I was never a fan of kit kat bars, more of a butterfinger girl, but yours look really good. I bet you were worn out from all those trials. I know how that feels! My kitchen is a war zone all the time, haha! All the photos definitely help it not to seem too difficult.

Wow!!! These look soooooooooooooooo amazing, I’m drooling hahaha!
I will be making them soon, but I have a question about your snack-size baked oatmeal: aren’t you turning some of the omega 3 fats in the flax seeds into omega 6 fats when you bake them in the oven, or is that untrue? I was just wondering, thanks!

Hi! I’ve been following you for a while. Love your blog and your recipes. I just made your pumpkin pie brownies last night for my sister-in-law’s birthday as a “test” for Thanksgiving. HUGE hit! Kit Kats were always my favorite candy & adding PB?!? Whoa!! Two questions: 1. Do you think almond butter would work? And 2. Is it okay if I share the pumpkin pie brownies on my blog (http://myveganture.wordpress.com/) referencing you, of course. P.S. I also made your twice baked bar nuts for my Hubby, he loves them! Thanks!

I live in constant fear of accidentally hitting “publish” instead of “save as draft”!!!! You are so funny though, and obviously it wasn’t a big deal!! :)
These look amazing, I am loving all the Halloween recipes so far!! Kit Kats are my faves, and I wish I could just reach in and grab these!!

These look amazing! Kit Kats were definitely my fave once upon a time.

I haven’t seen the individual sheets of wafer anywhere. I was thinking for a less labor intensive knockoff, you could just dip those rectangular vanilla wafer cookies in chocolate. I’m almost certain they don’t contain any animal products in the ingredients.

Just an observation, but as a dedicated reader of your blog for about three years I feel like I have to tell you I’m not as excited to read the blog anymore. I used to get to work and click over to your site first thing. But I have found since you have started what I believe is the busy schedule you have with your book (which I am very excited about) your blog entries just have not been what they used to be, nor are they as often. It’s been awhile since I was really inspired here. This isn’t hate mail by any means, I just thought I should let you know. At least for me Ohsheglows, which I used to tell EVERYONE about has lost its spark for me. :(

Hey Misty, I’m sorry to hear that you feel that way. I work extremely hard on my blog and book (about 65-70 hours a week no less) and this is very discouraging to hear. Perhaps you might consider the work that goes into maintaining a recipe blog while working on a cookbook and other endeavors. It’s not easy and I’m sorry that I can’t be everything you are looking for. Can you be more specific about what you mean? I wasn’t clear on it. Either way, I do appreciate your honest feedback and I wish you all the best.

Hi Angela! I’ve just done a Halloween recipe roundup on my blog and I included this recipe, as well as your Apple Bites, Rolo Knock-Offs, and Twix bars, with a couple of pictures, all with links back to your blog. Please let me know if this is not okay, but I know my readers will enjoy your recipes just as much as I do! Thanks :)

I was absolutely delighted to stumble across your blog and find this recipe. My boyfriend loves chocolate—especially Kit Kats!—but his intolerance towards lactose has gotten worse and worse over the years. I have been desperately trying to find recipes for lactose free chocolate desserts to make for his upcoming birthday this week, and I could hardly believe my surprise when I came across this. It is perfect; a seemingly delicious lactose free chocolate dessert that would also be impressive in presentation, that is both thoughtful (being my boyfriend’s favourite chocolate) and creative! The step-by-step photos with the captions made making these really easy, by the way, so thank you for that! Also, for those of you wondering, you can find those wafer sheets at most European grocery stores. Ask somebody working there for “tort wafers” used for “tort cakes”… they will usually know what you’re talking about. About 5 sheets come in a pack for roughly $3.